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Le Page de La Tour de Bessan

History

The origin of this property can be found in a 13th century tower situated in Soussans. But today there are simply some ruins left of this old fortified site that was designed to protect the Lord Jehan Colomb when he stayed on his land here. This edifice remained in the Colomb family until 1390 and then several illustrious local families followed suit; the Durforts and Garros families, then the Lords of Mons in 1488.
Their last beneficiary, Thérèse, married the son of the great writer Montesquieu in 1740. The title of Lord of Soussans was kept by their descendants until the French Revolution.

It was in 1972 that Lucien Lurton bought the tower and vineyards from the Clauzel family. As the new owner he pulled out all the stops to rebuild this wine estate, all the while managing his other properties.
In 1992, his daughter, Marie-Laure took over. With a wine making degree in hand and 6 years experience under her wing working on her father’s other domains, she knew all the blocks that made up the domain like the back of her hand.

The first investments she made were in the vineyard: heightening the trellising in order to increase the leaf canopy, replacing, ripping up and planting new vines.

In 1999, Emilie Roullé, an agronomist, became the vineyard manager. Her work showed results quickly: the 2003 vintage earned the Terra Vitis certification. This consolidates the viticultural choices made that respect the environment.
The classification of the 2003 Crus Bourgeois in June finally gave Château La Tour de Bessan the official status of Cru Bourgeois.

The investments also included the cellars: in 1999 we renovated a building dating back to 1934.
It now houses an ergonomic cellar, the barrel maturation cellar and a tasting room. This contemporary building tastefully designed by the architect Vincent Defos du Rau from Toulouse is evidence of the domain’s dynamic spirit and its constant striving for higher quality.

Fact sheet

Spread over three communes in the Margaux appellation (Soussans, Arsac, Cantenac), the blocks that make up the winery are Pyrenean gravel with different levels of clay depending on each zone. The varieties and rootstocks are adapted to each block and soil type. In 2012 the introduction of Petit Verdot provided more diversity in grape varieties.